Molded Plastic Gear Design

Basic differences between plastics and metals have important implications for gear and transmission designers.
Ticona understands these differences, and discusses them here.

By David Sheridan

Gear design and development is a complicated art. Ignore Table 1: A typical list of requirements for a transmission.
or miscalculate the operating and environmental effects
 Prime Mover  Physical Size
and the likely result is a gear set that doesn’t mesh properly,
– Torque  Ratio
which will cause excessive noise, gear failure, or both. This
– Speed  Precision
is especially true for molded plastic gear design, where the – Inertia  Efficiency
initial engineering effort is greater than that required with – Natural frequency  Lubrication
metals to cope with greater changes in material properties  Load  Environment
and dimensions across the entire range of operating – Torque – Temperature
conditions. This specialized, high technology area requires – Speed – Chemical moisture
considerable expertise to develop, design, and produce – Inertia – Moisture exposure
precision plastic gear transmission components. The – Natural frequency  Test Requirements
importance of designing plastic gears so the dimensional  Life  Other
requirements match with the material and process  Duty Cycle
capabilities cannot be overemphasized. Proper plastic gear Table 2: Transmission geometry conditions required
design, with the primary focus on getting the geometry for gear analysis.
of the gear pair right, requires an in-depth understanding Tight Mesh Open Mesh
of the broader relationship of materials, layout, shafting,
 Minimum Operating  Maximum Operating
bearings, and housings. Center Distance Center Distance
Condition Condition
Some companies recognize the specialized nature of this
 Maximum Material  Minimum Material
activity and have dedicated plastic gear specialists. They
Condition Condition
understand that plastic gear design requires extensive
analysis under all possible operating conditions that Table 3: Data required to calculate assembled center
involve many variables to develop the confidence required distance range.
to commit the expense of the prototype fabrication and Data for Assembled Center Distance
development phase. Computer analysis tools help these  Housing or Mounting Center Distance and Tolerance
specialized designers analyze the various dimensional,  For Bushings, Bearings and Shafting
temperature and load conditions. – Runout (TIR)
– Maximum and minimum radial play
Defining Transmission Requirements  Total Composite Tolerance (Quality Class)
At the core of any successful plastic gear design and
Table 4: Finding the effective operating center distances
development process is the development team, a
under extreme environmental conditions.
cooperative effort headed by a project engineer and an
assembled group made up of a gear engineer, plastics Effective Operating Center Distance
engineer, resin supplier, molder, tool builder, manufacturing  Find Maximum and Minimum “Operating” Center
engineer, quality control engineer, and purchasing. The Distance
role of this team is to ensure that all aspects of plastic gear  Add Temperature and Moisture Center Distance
“Change” to Assembled Center Distance
design, manufacture, and operation are not overlooked
 Examine When
throughout the development process.
– Wet-hot – Dry-hot
– Wet-cold – Dry-cold
 Other Conditions?
Select Extreme Conditions

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Molded Gear Plastic Design (continued)

One common error of plastic gear designers is starting with Table 5: Considerations for design of a gear set at
an insufficient understanding of the plastic transmission tight mesh conditions.
requirements. Another role of this development team is
Design at Tight Mesh
to clearly understand and gather critical data for these
requirements (see Table 1). These defined operating  Minimum Effective Operating Center Distance
 Maximum Material Condition
parameters will lead the team to overall system
– Maximum outside diameter
considerations, from weight and size requirements,
– Maximum tooth thickness
gear arrangements, and shaft, bearing, and housing – Minimum tip radius
requirements. Decisions on the specific gears will evolve – Maximum root diameter
from these concepts, especially preliminary decisions on  Does Geometry Work?
materials, sizes, and geometries that are based on simple – Is there clearance?
load analysis, tooling, and processing considerations. – Is there tip interference?
 Optimize Geometry
The initial materials are selected based on how well the – Maximize contact ratio
plastics match the application’s operating environment, – Minimize specific sliding
meet the appropriate property mix, and interact with  From Load Analysis
other components. To get a product to market rapidly, – Minimize or balance stresses?
a manufacturer may rush the conceptual designs and – Is tooth deflection excessive?
select a specific design prematurely. This can lead to poor – Is there sufficient backlash?
performance and actually extend the development cycle by – Is tip relief required?
forcing design readjustments to meet system requirements
later on. Table 6: Considerations for examining the gear set at
open mesh conditions.
As the conceptual design stage draws to a close the team
Examine Open Mesh Condition
evaluates each gear and associated part’s production
tolerances, their contribution to the overall system, and  Maximum Effective Operating Center Distance
 Minimum Material Condition
alternatives to improve the system and reduce costs. These
– Minimum outside diameter
concepts determine potential materials and fabrication
– Minimum tooth thickness
processes. These designs then undergo detailed analysis, – Maximum tip radius
using computer analytical models for tooth geometry – Minimum root diameter
evaluation and load analysis. This includes determining  Does Geometry Work?
the effective operating center distance range by factoring – Is contact ratio >1?
in all possible tolerances and environmental influences – If not go back to the beginning
on part dimensions, as well as evaluating each gear mesh • Consider different pitch
at extreme operating conditions: tight mesh, maximum • Change tooth proportions
material; open mesh, minimum material; and everything in • Renegotiate tolerances
between, including the combination of worst load sharing  Check Load Capacity of Teeth
condition and minimal material properties. – Strength
– Deflection and backlash
Mesh Conditions
To find the effective operating center distance range,
With the transmission concept’s preliminary sizing,
first find the assembled center distance range at ambient
tolerance selection, and material selection established,
temperature. Then, determine the dimensional effects of
the real gear design effort begins. Successful transmission
the environmental conditions – temperature and moisture
design with plastic gears requires an appreciation of the
expansion and contraction. Then combine this data to
tight and open mesh – maximum/minimum engagement –
determine the overall maximum and minimum effective
conditions for all components (Table 2).
operating center distance range of the gear set.
In the tight mesh condition, the gear set is operating at its
minimum center distance while the gear dimensions are
at the maximum material condition. Likewise, in the open
mesh condition the gear set is operating at its maximum
center distance, while the gear dimensions are at the
minimum material condition.
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Molded Gear Plastic Design (continued)

Assembled Center Distance minimum bearing radial play (BRP) is added to obtain the
The assembled maximum and minimum center distance minimum assembled center distance and half of the total
calculation includes all factors that influence the radial maximum radial play is added to obtain the maximum
operating position of the “ideal” gear profile. The assembled center distance.
assembled center distance includes the maximum and
Finally, the total composite tolerances of the pinion and
minimum housing or mounting center distance, the runout,
gear are added only to the maximum assembled center
and maximum and minimum radial play of the bearing
distance equation. It should be noted that these assembled
systems and the total composite tolerances of the mating
center distance equations were written assuming the
gears (Table 3). Obtain the total composite tolerance (TCT)
methods used in setting the maximum and minimum
(Table 8) from the quality class of the gear; however, it may
test radii and measuring the total composite variation are
be assigned separately. Note that by including the TCT in
in accordance with AGMA 2002-B88, Tooth Thickness
the assembled center distance calculation, the operating
Specifications and Measurement.
profile of the gear may be treated as “ideal” with no radial
variation in subsequent calculations. Equations 1-4 are for Note that for an external gear set, the minimum assembled
maximum and minimum assembled center distance for center distance is the position of maximum tooth
external (parallel or crossed-axis) and internal gear pairs. engagement and the maximum assembled center distance
is the position of minimum tooth engagement. For an
External internal gear set, the opposite is true.

CAmin = CMmin – (BROp + BROg)/2 + Effective Operating Center Distance

1 (BRPpmin + BRPgmin)/2
Now determine the range of effective operating center
distances by considering the influences of the operating
environment – temperature, moisture and chemical
CAmax = CMmax – (BROp + BROg)/2 + exposure (Table 4). The housing or mounting, pinion
2 (BRPpmax + BRPgmax)/2 +TCTp + TCTg
and gear operating temperatures (T) will differ from
the assembly temperature (Ta). Therefore, the operating
temperature change (ΔT) of each component is given by:
Internal ΔTM = TM – Ta
ΔTp = Tp – Ta
CAmin = CMmin – (BROp + BROg)/2 –
3 (BRPpmax + BRPgmax)/2 – (TCTp + TCTg)
ΔTg = Tg – Ta
Likewise, the operating moisture levels (RH) will differ
from that during assembly (RHa ). Therefore, the operating
CAmax = CMmax – (BROp + BROg)/2 – humidity change (ΔRH) is given by: (ΔRH) = RH – RHa
4 (BRPpmin + BRPgmin)/2 The housing, pinion, and gear materials’ coefficients of
linear thermal expansion (α) are needed as well as their
moisture exposure coefficients of expansion (k). With the
In the equations for assembled center distance, CA, nominal operating pitch diameters of the gear and pinion
subscripts min and max represent minimum and maximum (dg and dp) the change in operating center distance (ΔC)
throughout and p and g represent the pinion and gear. The is shown in equations 5 and 6. Now add these equations
M subscript represents the gear housing or mounting. Start for each of the four combinations of temperature and
with both the corresponding maximum or minimum moisture extremes to the minimum and maximum
mounting or housing center distance. Assume the loads on assembled center distances to obtain the minimum and
the gears will push them apart along the line of centers to maximum effective operating center distances (Co) at each
the fullest extent possible. This is the worst case. For environmental combination (see equation 7).
discussion purposes, consider the external assembled
center distance equations. Half of the total indicator runout In addition, it may be necessary to include κ value effects
of the bearings (BRO) is subtracted for the minimum in operating center distance changes from swelling or
assembled center distance and added for the maximum shrinkage caused by exposure to chemicals or lubricants.
assembled center distance. In addition, half of the total

Page | 3
Molded Gear Plastic Design (continued)

weaker than the other due to its greater number of tooth

External Gear Set
bending cycles. Modification, such as equalizing the tooth
d thicknesses, may be required to balance the tooth strengths
ΔC = ––g (αMΔTM – αgΔTg + (κM – κg)ΔRH) of the gears. Load analysis can also determine whether the
2
5 d
mesh and tooth tip deflections are excessive.
+ ––p (αMΔTM – αpΔTp + (κM – κp)ΔRH) If the deflection of the mesh along the line of action is
2
high enough, the driving pinion tooth will be early and the
Internal Gear Set driven gear tooth will be late in arriving at the first point of
contact. This will produce an impact condition that causes
d
ΔC = ––g (αMΔTM – αgΔTg + (κM – κg)ΔRH) a shock load and subsequent increased stress, wear, and
2 noise. Tip relief added to the driven gear teeth will allow
6 d the load to be picked up more gradually and will greatly
– ––p (αMΔ TM – αpΔTp + (κM – κp)ΔRH) reduce the impact on the system. Likewise, tip relief added
2 to the pinion teeth will allow the load to be gradually
released rather than suddenly dropped at the end of the
C min = CΛmin + ΔC
line of action. This will also reduce the amount of sliding
7
O

C max = CΛmax + ΔC
O
off the line of action and reduce the wear on the teeth.

Table 7: The designer must consider the worst load

From the resulting four values of COmin and COmax, there will condition to confirm satisfactory gear performance.
be one absolute minimum and one absolute maximum that Examine Worst Load Condition
cover the full range of effective operating center distances  Tight Mesh Condition is Often Hot and Wet
over which the gear set must operate and which must be  Open Mesh Condition is Often Cold and Dry
used to perform the gear geometry and load analyses.  But Worst Load Condition
– Often open mesh, hot and wet
Design At Tight Mesh  What about Transient Conditions?
Now, design the gear set at the tight mesh condition (Table – Cold housing and hot gears
– Hot housing and cold gears
5). Tight Mesh conditions are characterized by the gears’
maximum outside and root diameters, maximum tooth
Table 8: Total Composite Tolerance
thicknesses, and minimum tooth tip radii. The tight mesh
condition also operates at the absolute minimum effective
operating center distance previously determined. Under
such conditions, the designer needs to ensure the gear
set has adequate root clearances and backlash to prevent
interference and binding.

The designer may modify the gear tooth geometry to

increase the profile contact ratio or reduce specific sliding
of the teeth. Depending on the effective operating center
distance range, profile contact ratios as high as 1.5 may be
necessary (for spur gears) in the tight mesh condition to
ensure sufficient contact ratio in the open mesh condition. Examine Open Mesh
For dry-running plastic gears, further reduce the specific After the gear set is designed at tight mesh, examine the
sliding as low as possible since it is directly related to tooth open mesh condition (Table 6). The open mesh condition
wear. This will also improve the efficiency as the product of considers gears’ minimum outside and root diameters,
the sliding velocity, contact force, and coefficient of friction minimum tooth thicknesses, and maximum tooth tip
is the power loss in the mesh. radii. The open mesh condition operates at the absolute
maximum effective operating center distance. Here,
In addition to geometry considerations, load analysis the most important concern is the profile contact ratio,
of the mesh may indicate additional modifications are especially for spur gears. If the profile contact ratio of a
required. One gear, usually the pinion, may be significantly spur gear set is below 1.0 it will result in speed variations

Page | 4
Molded Gear Plastic Design (continued)

of the output gear, impact loading, excessive noise, wear, Note: To the best of our knowledge, the information
and potential failure. If the profile contact ratio is below contained in this article is accurate. However, we do not
1.0, consider a redesign of the gear set. For spur gears assume any liability whatsoever for the accuracy and
this is a must. A change may be necessary in the pitch (or completeness of such information. Any determination of
module) or tooth proportions. Also, it may be necessary the suitability of polymers for any use contemplated by the
to renegotiate tolerances to reduce the assembled center users and the manner of such use is the sole responsibility
distance range. Changing gear or housing materials to of the user.
more closely match thermal expansion rates will further
reduce the change in contact ratio between tight and About the Author:
open mesh conditions. Finally, once the contact ratio is David Sheridan is senior design engineer at Ticona
acceptable, perform a load analysis in the open mesh Engineering Polymers, a business of Celanese Corporation.
condition to verify acceptable tooth stresses and deflection He has been involved with the design of plastic gears
under this condition. for more than 10 years and is an active member of the
American Gear Manufacturers Association’s Plastic Gearing
Examine Worst Load Condition Committee. For more information call (800) 833-4882,
The previous tight and open mesh discussion examines e-mail [email protected], or go online to
the extreme mesh conditions in terms of the geometry [www.ticona.com].
and tolerances. Unfortunately, there are other operating
conditions that may be worse for the gear set (Table 7).

Tight mesh, maximum load sharing conditions with plastic

gears are usually encountered in hot and wet environments
when material properties are lowest. Open mesh, minimum
load sharing conditions usually occur when gear sets
are cold and dry when material properties are greatest.
However, the worst load conditions may occur with an
open mesh during hot and wet conditions. Transient
startup conditions can have hot gears in a cold housing.
The gear development team must establish the worst load
conditions and iterate on design alternatives to achieve a
working solution.

Complete Iterative Process

While plastic gears give the engineer enormous
flexibility and injection molded gears can achieve high
quality standards at relatively lower cost, they are more
complicated to design and develop than those in metal.
Clearly, the plastic gear transmission design process
is highly iterative. However, if all of the conditions are
carefully examined, the gear design team can move
forward with a high degree of confidence. With the help of
computer aided design tools, this design process is greatly
streamlined. Remember, optimizing a design during the
design phase is much more cost effective than repeatedly
cutting tools and testing parts.

Page | 5
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